POULTRY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 35

POULTRY NOTES.

Br Terhor.

English and American-made breedi being now in general favour, the question of breaking up broody hene will in the course of a few weeks occupy the serious attention of breedeis and fanciers, and it will be a timely hint to many if I caution, them that the task should be faced with, a determination to be sportsmanlike (not to suggest cruelty) rather than either careless or over-anxious. Over-eagerness to suppress the brooding instinct in poultry causes breeders to adopt such cruel methods o£ reducing the incubation heat as douching in cold water, confining in coops exposed to the summer sun without food or water, etc., oblivious, aparently, of the fact that shortly" afterwards they will be wondering how sickness has cropped up in be poultry yard, and ready to go to any amount of expense and trouble to eradicate t. When broodiness shows itself in hens not required ior purposes of incubation the best plan is to give them charge of a few china eggs for. at least a fortnight, removing them daily for food, water, and dust bath, just as though they were upon their natural and legitimate business. By this"process they will get due rest and time to gradually subdue the fever heat, and then if removed to a strange run for two or three days will soon be found off; the cluck and ready to resume laying in a. very short time. In yards where this process is altogether too much work for the "management," the next best plan is to merely change the clucker from one run to another for a few days. When broody she will, of course, not lay, and consequently there need be no fear of her upsettingmating calculations by producing egg* in. the strange nest. Whatever method i=* adopted, however, it should be remembered that a spell is good for the bird, and that kindly treatment will pay best in the long run.

—In giving the formula of Dr Dechmann's nutritive salts for hens a few weeks back the eleventh ingredient of the formula was not correctly stated. Instead of "Magnesium dioxide" read '^Manganese dioxido (Mn. 02), 1.75 grammes." This important correction is advised in the August issue of the Reliable Poultry Journal, just to hand.

—In the same issue of the Journal a doctor of philoaophy and superintendent ofi schools named Herman S. Platts subscribes opinions radically opposite to those expressed by Dr Dechmann. As might he expected, this last "light of the age" scoffs at the idea that grit cannot be found irV the droppings of poultry, and he says it is absurd to think that a hen can digest bits of flint. He says: — "The hen is about as capable of getting the silica for her feathers from these stones as she is of getting the> necessary nitrogen by swallowing mouthfula of atmospheric air or obtaining her carbohydrate from ohavcoal and water." Whilsti the doctors differ. a« they are at Mborfv to do, I fancy id will do no harm to ths poultry industry if we continue to believe, as Dr Dechinaim has (aught us, that gizzardbearing birds -v\ant- stone for extraordinary

purposes — i.e., not for merely grinding corn, which they could have done with teeth, as do other animals, without being compelled to swallow stones, but presumably for purposes not required by non-gizzard-bearing creatures — to wit, for feather-making. — -The number of birds a house -will hold depends,- upon its volume or total cubical contents, and not on the floor space or perch room. The maximum number is found by dividing the volume expressed as cubic feet by 10. Low houses tend to overcrowding, and subsequently to diminished egg yield and numerous diseases. — Brooder chicks should have hover space of not less than 2ft in diameter, with plenty of room on all sides of the hover for the chicks to get away from the heat. In addition to this there should be an indoor run of at leaet 6ft long by 3ft square. Feed the chicks how you may as regards grain, but don't forget a little green stuff daily. " — In hatching by incubator remember that _" -well-aired eggs 'mean strong chicks, and - further Maear in mind that strong chicks may die in the shell if the .same and the skin -" within are not made brittle by daily cooling. The process of expansion and contraction repeated every day — or twice a day is -even Jbetter — as the eggs are cooled down and re- _ Vanned , tends to reduce the covering 'Which the' birds have to break through at hatching to a _ condition which makes exit ( - iasy." ' . , r'This illustration, ' lent .by "the AgriSiltural Department, . will assist amateurs "understanding, terms used "by fanciers 3ln describing points. The block is well jbawn and as good in its way as anything jo far. produced. ■ " i

1 are very much short of the demand. Prices for the past week were practically unaltered, and averaged as follows : — Roosters, 4% to 4s 6d per pair ; hens. 3s to 3s 6d ; ducks. 4s 6d to 4s 9d ; geese, ss, poor demand ; turkeys — gobblers, 7£d, h<?ns 5d per lb. —As evidence of the spirit with which American poultry-breeders arc urged on to meet the demand for eggs in Great Briatin the following paragraph from a paper by Mr Geo. Johiison, Statistician of the Dominion Government of Ottawa, Canada, is instructive. Inter alia, he says : — —Canadian Eggs Highly Valued in i Britain. — Then, in thinking about markets, consider the demand in other countries. The British Isles imported last year 198£ million dozen, Russia sending 68 million, Denmark 38. Germany 31, Belgium 23, France 16, and Canada 7 1-3 million dozen. I regret to observe that for the first time in years we sent fewer dozens last year than in the preceding year, though here again I note a eoir.iK-nsation : while the average .price of 19iA .million dozen imported by Great Britain was 16 1-5 cents per dozen, Canada's eggs had a value of 19 cents. We are being beaten by the Russian hens, who are contributing more and more to the ■wants of the British consumer of eggs. ' ' — Russia Supplies- One-third of Britain's | Eggs.Shall we let measly Russian hen continue to carry on one-third of this enormous business valued at 32 or 33 million, dollars yearly, while we send but a little more i than one-twenty -eighth — Russia one dozen

1. Comb. ' 13. Wing-bow. 2. .Face. 1*- Wing-coverts, forming "the bar. 3. Wattles. 15. Secondaries, the lower ends forming the A. Ear-lobs.. - - wing or lower butts. 6. Hackle. 16. Lower wing-butts. ' 6. Breast. 17. Primaries. Hidden by secondaries when 7* Back. ' . the wing is closed. B*. Saddle. 18. Thighs. 9. Saddle-hackle. 19- Hocks. 10. * Sickles. 20. Legs or shanks. \l. Tail-coverts. 21. Spur. 3,. True tail-feathers. 22. Toes or claws.

— Houses -will shortly he needed for the chicks that are too large for the broode'% A." cheap, serviceable house may he made on the colony plaa by altering a good-sized packing case. The top and one- side are removed and a slanting roof is built;- the whole box is covered with tarred paper. The front should be the size of the case, so that it can be taken out for the purpose of cleaning. It may be fastened in position by hooks or buttons. These coops are easily handled and .can be moved from place -fcb place with slight trouble. . The total cost would be trifling. The floor should be kept iprinkled with a small quantity of wellslaked lime and some broken straw for the chicks to roost on at night. The colony house in position, see that the chicks have a good supply of grit, charcoal, and fresh water. A good- deal depends on one's self how the chicks turn out. If neglected and all kinds of waste food that has become sour b thrown to them and allowed to remain, poor returns must be expected. In starting with poultry it is ever well to remember that chickens require the best of attention from shell to maturity if good results are to be obtained. How often have we seen a. beginner hatch out chicks by the hundred, and at the end of the season what has he? 'A few miserable-looking bunches of feathers hovering around, eaten up with vermin ancl filth through lack of energy and a love for the> undertaking. — Messrs Pryor and Co. (per Mr E. Keilly) report: — Poultry etill continue in Bhort supply, and Tecord prices are ruling. Our total consignments during the past week only amounted to 208 birds, which were sold as soon as they arrived, as follows : — Twelve roosters (small and aged) at 4s 6d, 63 (good) at 55, -20 (extra good) at 5s 6d, 4- hens (small) at 3s 6d, 36 (good) at 4s, 40 (extra good) at 4-s od, 28 ducks at 6s 6d per pair. We also sold a line of purebred brown Xeghorn pullets at 4s 6d each, and a trio of buff Orpingtons at £3 3s. Eggs : We placed all our consignments at 9id per dozen; demand keen. Eggs for -export : We hold large orders, and will be pleased to hear from those having any eggs for sale. — Messrs Waters, Ritchie, and Co. report for the past wpek a very strong demand for all classes ctf table poultry except geese. Every consignment from the country is meeting with a ready sd£ t and supplies

in every three, Canada one dozen in every twenty-eight? Perish the thought. The Russian hen does not produce as good a n egg as the 'Canadian hen. The distance Russian eggs have to be carried is as great as in j the case of Canada's. The jolting of a j Russian railway is greater than that ot our smooth-running trains. Our egg, lam informed by a larg-s English dealer, has a somewhat thinner membrane separating the yolk from the white, and, therefore, a slightly greater tendency for the yellow to mix with the white on -account of the jar of railway car and the tremor of freight steamer. That objection, I am sure, if it really exists, can bo overcome by practical men. I do not know the reason why there is | this very serious decrease in the export '■ of eggs, amounting to 297.000d0l in the fiscal y ear 1902-3 and to 210,944d0l in the ■ last six months of the calendar year 1903. Whatever the cause, the result is serious. ; "We cannot afford to lose one-quarter of a ■ million dollars every six months in our export of eggs. ! Now that Russia is engaged in a serious struggle with those very scientific bruisers the Japs, she needs her eggs for her army. The chance is offered us to supplant her in the English market, just as we have ' supplanted several other countries.